Only three of the murders, including that of Beatrice Louise Routh, 10, who was kidnapped in Gulfport, Miss., Aug. 1 and whose nude body was found Sunday, have been confirmed, Mr. Lusk said, but two murders committed in Florida in 1985 "basically match in detail what Evans told investigators."

Mr. Lusk would not provide details about the Florida killings but said they were believed to be the last Evans committed before he was jailed in Texas in 1987 for rape.

If Evans' claims are true, he would be responsible for more murders than any known serial killer to date.

Henry Lee Lucas, a drifter convicted of 13 murders, once claimed that he killed 360 people but later said he had killed only one person, his mother.